BIGGLES
& CO.
by Captain W.
E. Johns
XII. HARDWICK
AGAIN (Pages
233 – 243)
“It was about half-past nine the same morning
when the Falcon landed at Hardwick airport after one stop at a small club
aerodrome in northern France to refuel”.
Smyth is there staring upwards and with him is Cronfelt. Smyth is astonished to see Biggles, having no
doubt heard a report of his death.
Cronfelt tells Biggles “there is a report, you know, that you have been
killed in a crash in France”. Cronfelt
says he never believed it. Cronfelt asks
Biggles to run him over to Paris right away – using the Falcon if need be. Biggles says it will take time to get it
ready and he wants a cup of tea and a wash.
Biggles says he will need three-quarters of an hour before he is
ready. Cronfelt says he will fetch his
suit-case from Biggles’ office, but Biggles tells him that he will put it in
the office safe and Cronfelt watches him do this. Cronfelt is back by 10.25 am and asks to
speak to Biggles in private. He says his
passport has lapsed and he wants to land at an unauthorized place to avoid
customs. Biggles says “I’m afraid
there’s nothing doing. I’m not prepared
to risk losing my licence”. Biggles is
offered a £100 bribe. Biggles glances
out of the window and sees a low-wing monoplane, bearing German registration
letters, make a neat landing. Biggles
turns down the bribe. “My price, when I
break the law, will be more than you will be prepared to pay”. Biggles gets Cronfelt’s case and asks what is
in the bag. He then calls in four men,
Colonel Raymond, Sir Guy Brunswick and two plain clothes police officers. Cronfelt pulls out an automatic and fires
point-blank at Biggles. Biggles leaps
aside and a plain-clothes man is hit in the shoulder. Cronfelt runs out of the office and locks the
door behind him. Biggles goes out the
window after him. Cronfelt runs towards
a tall, slim man in flying overalls by the low-wing monoplane that has just
landed. This stranger shoots Cronfelt
and then fives five more shots into him whilst he is on the ground. (Cronfelt staggered; The suit-case flew
out of his hand, and he pitched forward - is the illustration on page 243). He then takes Cronfelt’s suit-case and gets
in the monoplane and it takes off.
“Biggles stopped and passed his hand wearily over his face. “Did you ever see anything so cool as that in
your life?” he gasped. Raymond says
“Pity that fellow got away with the suit-case; there must have been something
very valuable in it”. A flicker of a
smile crossed Biggles’s face. “There
was,” he said quietly.